Microsoft quantum chief defends controversial Majorana results

Zulfi Alam, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of quantum, told WIRED that he is uninterested in winning over skeptical scientists over the company’s Majorana quasiparticle claim. The claim, announced last year, suggested the team had split an electron to create a Majorana particle, a result many researchers said lacked conclusive data and peer‑reviewed validation. Microsoft previously retracted a 2021 Nature paper on similar findings after independent physicists highlighted analytical issues. In June the firm reported a qubit that is 1,000 times more reliable than its predecessor, but it has refused to release the raw data underlying the Majorana work, citing commercial sensitivity and slow publishing processes.

The controversy highlights broader concerns about transparency in the race among tech giants and startups to build commercially viable quantum computers, which could impact fields from drug discovery to encryption security.